Robots are widely utilized in industrial assembly line and other manufacturing applications to perform repetitive tasks very precisely without the need for human operation, interaction, or supervision. For example, robots are commonly used in the automotive industry to perform a number of tasks such as material handling, cutting, welding, and the like.
To amortize the considerable cost of an industrial robot over a variety of tasks, the robot arm is typically separate from a diverse array of robotic tools, which are removably attached to the end of the robot arm. To facilitate this plurality of tools, a tool changer—comprising “master” and “tool” units—may be interposed between a robot arm and each tool that may be attached to it. The robot arm typically terminates in a master unit. A corresponding tool unit is connected to each tool that may be attached to the robot arm. A mechanical coupling mechanism in the tool changer positively locks the master and tool units together for the duration of the use of the tool on the robot arm, and releases the tool from the robot arm upon completion of the tool's tasks. In a production manufacturing environment, robotic tool changers may be power actuated, such as by electric motor, pneumatic pressure, or the like, and software controlled. The robot arm control software then swaps out tools as necessary, reducing down time.
However, in many applications, such as where robotic tasks change only infrequently, or where tools are changed only in the event of a tool failure, or where there is no way to provide air or power for tool changer operation, a manually actuated tool changer may be simpler, more reliable, and less expensive than an automated one. A manual tool changer should be simple to operate, and should include safety features that prevent unintentional decoupling of the master and tool units.